From Xena to Velma: Lucy Lawless for Auckland Chicago
After playing Mama Morton in the Hollywood Bowl season of Chicago, Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Battlestar Galactica, Spartacus: Blood and Sand) is on her way home to New Zealand kick up her heels as the murderous chanteuse, Velma Kelly, in Auckland Theatre Company’s Chicago, opening on 2 November, 2013.
(Sorry, no images of Lucy Lawless as Velma yet, the pic is of Hannah Tasker-Poland).
Auckland Theatre Company's 2013 season ends with a BANG, as Chicago, directed by Michael Hurst and starring Lucy Lawless, Amanda Billing and Shane Cortese, opens at Q Theatre.
1920s, Chicago. Cook County Jail is home to a bawdy band of murderesses, all of whom have eradicated their quickly insignificant others. Chanteuses Velma Kelly (Lucy Lawless) and Roxie Hart (Amanda Billing) have both acquired a spot on Death Row. Velma enlists the help of prison matron Mama Morton (Colleen Davis) and smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn (Shane Cortese) to turn her incarceration into a media frenzy. But, not one to rest on her laurels, Roxie comes up with a foxy plan to steal back the limelight and, instead of wrangling the law, the two divas find themselves fighting the ultimate battle - the race to superstardom.
Of the production, Director Michael Hurst said, "The thing about Chicago is that it underneath all the jazz and the fizz is the pulsing, wild, abandoned and desperate beating heart of a corrupt and exploitative society. It's a dark, sexy and vicious tale, propelled by extraordinary music - the rhythms of murder and corruption; the rhythms of lust. It's a revelatory tale of the transience of celebrity. And it's fabulous."
Auckland Theatre Company Artistic Director, Colin McColl, said, "The longest-running American musical ever to play the West End, Chicago has garnered a stash of glitzy awards in many revivals worldwide. Michael's production stars the hottest cast of the year including Lucy Lawless, fresh from her role as Mama Morton in Chicago at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Brooke Shields, Stephen Moyer and Ashlee Simpson."
CHICAGO
Music by John Kander Lyrics by Fred Ebb Book by Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse
Directed by Michael Hurst
Location Q (305 Queen St)
Booking info +64 9 309 9771 or www.qtheatre.co.nz
Season dates
Preview: Friday 1 November, 8pm
Opening: Saturday 2 November, 8pm
Closing: Sunday 24 November, 7pm
Cast Roxie Hart - Amanda Billing
Velma Kelly - Lucy Lawless
Amos - Andrew Grainger
Billy Flynn - Shane Cortese
Mama Morton - Colleen Davis
Narrator/Little Mary Sunshine - Sandra Rasmussen
Chorus - Will Barling, Stephen Butterworth, Mike Edward, Rebekkah Schoonbeek, Sia Trokenheim, Hannah Tasker-Poland, Lavinia Uhila
Creative team
Director - Michael Hurst
Musical Director - John Gibson
Set Designer - John Harding
Costume Designer - Lesley Burkes-Harding
Lighting Design - Sean Lynch
Stage Manager - Chelsea Adams
Set Construction - 2construct